Methods and apparatus to adjust media impressions based on media impression notification loss rates in network communications

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus to adjust media impressions based on media impression notification loss rates in network communications are disclosed. An example method includes determining a first network media impression adjustment factor based on a quantity of lost test media impression notifications for a first network in a geographic region; determining an adjusted quantity of first network user-accessed media impression notifications for the first network by applying the first network media impression adjustment factor to a quantity of successfully received user-accessed media impression notifications to generate a product and weighting the product based on a market share of first subscribers corresponding to the first network in the geographic region; and storing the weighted adjusted quantity of the user-accessed media impression notifications in association with a media identifier to credit corresponding media with a quantity of media accesses corresponding to the weighted adjusted quantity of the user-accessed media impression notifications.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent arises from a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 17/362,520, filed on Jun. 29, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/450,457, filed on Jun. 24, 2019, grantedas U.S. Pat. No. 11,055,752, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/864,416, filed on Sep. 24, 2015, granted as U.S.Pat. No. 10,332,158, all of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to audience measurements, and, moreparticularly, to methods and apparatus to adjust media impressions basedon media impression notification loss rates in network communications.

BACKGROUND

Techniques for monitoring user access to Internet resources such as webpages, advertisements and/or other Internet-accessible media haveevolved significantly over the years. Some known systems perform suchmonitoring through server logs. In particular, entities serving media onthe Internet can use known techniques to log the number of requestsreceived for their media (e.g., content and/or advertisements) at theirserver. Other techniques involve client devices (e.g., computers, mobiletelephones, etc.) sending notifications to a data collection facility ofimpressions to Internet-accessed media. In some examples, these noticesare provided to a third party to obtain demographic informationcorresponding to users of the devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system for measuring loss rates of mediaimpression notifications in network communications and adjusting mediaimpression measurements based on the measured media impressionnotification loss rates.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example apparatus that can be used to measuremedia impression notification loss rates and generate adjusted mediaimpression measurements based on the media impression notification lossrates.

FIGS. 3A and 3B is a flowchart representative of machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example apparatus ofFIGS. 1 and/or 2 to adjust media impression notification loss rates.

FIG. 4 is an example processor platform to execute the instructions ofFIGS. 3A and 3B to implement the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and/or 2 .

The figures are not to scale. Wherever possible, the same referencenumbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying writtendescription to refer to the same or like parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Examples disclosed herein relate to methods and apparatus for measuringmedia impression notification loss rates (e.g., spatial-temporal mediaimpression loss rates) in network communications and applying such mediaimpression notification loss rates to media impression measures togenerate adjusted media impression measures and/or adjusted onlinecampaign ratings. In examples disclosed herein, a media impressionnotification or message is sent by a client device to a remoteimpression collection device in response to the client device accessingmedia. For example, the media impression notification may have a mediaidentifier indicative of the accessed media and a user/device identifierthat can be used to identify a user of the client device or to identifythe client device.

In some examples, a media impression notification is sent by a clientdevice in the form of a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request to animpression collection server or computer. For example, the HTTP requestused to report an impression may be a dummy request that does notactually result in any meaningful information being sent back to theclient device by the impression collection server. Alternatively, thedummy HTTP request reporting the impression may result in a dummy 1×1transparent or unobtrusive pixel being sent back to the client devicefrom the impression collection server.

In some examples, by applying media impression notification loss ratesto media impression measures, an adjusted quantity of impressions may bedetermined that accounts for, or is representative of, both a quantityof media impression notifications successfully received at a datacollection facility and a quantity of media impression notifications notsuccessfully received at the data collection facility. In some examples,the adjusted quantity of impressions includes impressions associatedwith one or more tested networks (e.g., networks on which test clientdevices send and/or automatically send test media impressionnotifications for the purpose of measuring media impression notificationloss rates) and/or impressions associated with one or more untestednetworks (e.g., networks on which test client devices are not providedto send media impression notifications for the purpose of measuringmedia impression notification loss rates).

In some examples, to determine media impression notification loss ratesfor one or more networks communicating in different geographic regions,one or more test client devices are installed in the differentgeographical locations (e.g., New York City, Chicago, Dallas, LosAngeles, etc.) to send (e.g., automatically send) media impressionnotifications on the one or more networks in those regions. In examplesdisclosed herein, a test client device is an electronic device such as adesktop computer, a laptop computer, a server, a mobile telephone, anetwork device, etc., that is configured to send test media impressionnotifications addressed to an impression collection device at a datacollection facility. For example, a test client may be configured toautomatically send a particular quantity of test media impressionnotifications periodically or aperiodically within a particular quantityof time. In this manner, a number of test media impression notificationssent by the test client device over a particular duration is known whena test media impression notification loss rate is being determined.

As used herein, a test media impression notification is used to testsuccessful transmission performance and transmission losscharacteristics of networks. A test impression notification simulates amessage or communication from a device notifying an impressioncollection server or computer that the device has accessed media. A realuser media impression notification that a client device sends to animpression collection server or computer is in response to actuallyaccessing media at the client device. The real user media impressionnotification includes, for example, a media identifier to identify theaccessed media, a user and/or device identifier to identify the user ofthe client device and/or to identify the client device, a timestamp toidentify the data/time when the media was accessed, a source identifier(e.g., a publisher/provider/server uniform resource locator (URL)) toidentify an internet location from where the media was obtained, a hostidentifier (e.g., a URL) to identify the website through which the mediawas accessed, a placement identification (ID) and/or other suitableinformation to identify characteristics of the accessed media. However,unlike the real user media impression notification that notifies of anactual media impression, a test media impression notification simulatesa notification of a media impression. Though, in other examples, a testclient device can access media to trigger sending of the test mediaimpression notifications, such media impression notifications aremeasuring media impression notification loss rates and not for loggingimpressioning correspond to real people accessing media.

The test media impression notifications are configured to have the sameor similar characteristics (e.g., byte length, format and payload size)as real media impression notifications even though the test mediaimpression notifications do not report on real accesses to media as dothe real media impression notifications. By configuring the test mediaimpression notifications to appear the same as or similar to real mediaimpression notifications, measured information transmissions successesand losses of tested networks are based on transmission formats andsizes of real media impression notifications. In this manner, testconditions simulate real transmission conditions so that any datatransmission handling (e.g., buffering, congestion, mitigation, packetinspection, etc.) that a network would apply to a real media impressionnotification, and that may lead to transmission loss, will also beapplied to test media impression notifications due to the test mediaimpression notifications having the same or similar characteristics asreal media impression notifications. In some examples, a mediaimpression notification may be transmitted using one or more datapackets in a packet based network and/or one or more frames in a circuitswitched network.

In some examples, to estimate media impression notification loss ratesfor first and second networks, a first test client device operating onthe first network transmits test media impression notifications inpacket form to a data collection facility at a predetermined rate and asecond test client device operating on the second network transmits testmedia impression notifications in, for example, packet form at apredetermined rate to the data collection facility and/or as aparticular quantity of communications transmitted aperiodically to thedata collection facility. In some examples, the media impressionnotification loss rate for the respective networks is determined basedon a difference between the number of test media impressionnotifications sent by the different test client devices and the numberof test media impression notifications received by the data collectionfacility.

In some examples, the media impression notification loss rate is used incombination with an estimated market share of the measured networks todetermine impression adjustment factors for the measured networks. Insome examples, the impression adjustment factors for the respectivenetworks can be applied to online media exposure/impression measures toimprove the accuracies of such measures. In some examples, the onlinemedia exposure/impression measures are associated with respectivedesignated market areas (DMA) and include media identifications (IDs),placement IDs, demographics and/or numbers of recorded impressions.

In some examples, to apply a first impression adjustment factor toonline media exposure/impression measures, the first impressionadjustment factor for a first network is applied to a total receivedimpression count and/or a recorded impression count for a designatedmarket area to determine an adjusted quantity of impressions for thefirst network. In some examples, the adjusted quantity of impressionsincludes both impressions that were successfully received by the datacollection facility via the first network and impressions that were notsuccessfully received via the first network. In some examples, theadjusted quantity of impressions for the first network is summed withother adjusted quantities of impressions for other networks to determinea total adjusted quantity of impressions across numerous networksincluding real media impression notifications that were lost intransmission in different geographic regions and/or on differentnetworks.

FIG. 1 is an example system 100 for measuring media impressionnotification loss rates in network communications and applying suchmedia impression notification loss rates to media impression measures togenerate adjusted media impression measures. In examples disclosedherein, adjusted media impression measures are representative ofimpressions of media accessed at client devices including impressionscorresponding to media impression notifications from such client devicesthat were and were not successfully received at a data collectionfacility. In this example, the system 100 is configured to measure mediaimpression notification loss rates in a geographic region (e.g., NewYork City) that includes different internet service providers (ISPs)and/or networks including an example first network 102, an examplesecond network 104, an example third network 106, an example fourthnetwork 108 and an example fifth network 110. In other examples, one ormore of the networks 102, 104, 106, 108, 110 is/are separately locatedin two or more geographic regions (e.g., New York City, Los Angeles, SanFrancisco, etc.).

In the illustrated example, to measure media impression notificationloss rates of the first network 102, the second network 104 and thethird network 106 (e.g., tested networks), example first, second andthird test client devices 112, 114, 116 are configured to be incommunication with the first network 102, an example fourth test clientdevice 118 is configured to be in communication with the second network104 and an example fifth test client device 120 is configured to be incommunication with the third network 106. In some examples, the first,second and third test client devices 112, 114, 116 are installed indifferent regions of a metropolitan area (e.g., different neighborhoodsor city blocks of New York City). While in this example, three testclient devices 112, 114, 116 are configured to be in communication withthe first network 102 and one test client device 118, 120 is configuredto be in communication with each of the second and third networks 104,106, in other examples, any number of test client devices (e.g., 1, 2,3, 4, etc.) may be used in communication with any of the networks 102,104, 106, 108 and/or 110. In this example, media impression notificationloss rates are not being measured on the fourth network 108 and thefifth network 110 (e.g., untested networks). However, in other examples,the media impression notification loss rates for the fourth and/or thefifth networks 108 and/or 110 are measured.

In some examples, the system 100 is configured to measure mediaimpression notification loss rates for networks and/or ISPs that have anumber of subscribers greater than a threshold number of subscribersand/or a market share greater than a threshold market share percentage.As used herein, market share is a value representative of a number ofsubscribers of a service provider in a particular geographic arearelative to either (1) a total population of people in that geographicarea, or (2) a total sum of subscribers of the service provider andother service providers of the same type of service (e.g., wireless orwired Internet access service) in that same geographic area.Additionally or alternatively, the market share is a valuerepresentative of a number of subscribers of a tested service provider(e.g., a first network) in a particular geographic area relative toother tested service providers (e.g., the first network, a secondnetwork).

In some examples, the system 100 does not measure media impressionnotification loss rates for networks and/or ISPs having a number ofsubscribers less than the threshold number of subscribers and/or amarket share less than the threshold percentage. Thus, in this example,the first, second and third networks 102, 104, 106 may be representativeof networks having more than the threshold number of subscribers and/orthreshold market share percentage and the fourth and fifth networks 108,110 may be representative of networks having less than the thresholdnumber of subscribers and/or threshold market share percentage.

In the illustrated example, to determine a media impression notificationloss rate for the tested networks and/or to determine adjusted mediaimpression measures, the example system 100 includes an example datacollection facility 122. In this example, the data collection facility122 includes an example loss rate determiner 124 and an example mediaimpression measurement adjuster 126.

In the illustrated example, to determine a first media impressionnotification loss rate for the first network 102 based on testimpression notifications from the first test client device 112, thefirst test client device 112 transmits first sent test media impressionnotifications 128 addressed to the data collection facility 122. In theillustrated example, the data collection facility 122 receives firstreceived test media impression notifications 130 corresponding to someor all of the first sent test media impression notifications 128. Todetermine a second media impression notification loss rate for the firstnetwork 102 based on test impression notifications from the second testclient device 114, the second test client device 114 transmits secondsent test media impression notifications 132 addressed to the datacollection facility 122. In the illustrated example, the data collectionfacility 122 receives second received test media impressionnotifications 134 corresponding to some or all of the second sent testmedia impression notifications 132. To determine a third mediaimpression notification loss rate for the first network 102 based on thetest impression notifications from the third test client device 116, thethird test client device 116 transmits third sent test media impressionnotifications 136 addressed to the data collection facility 122. In theillustrated example, the data collection facility 122 receives thirdreceived test media impression notifications 138 corresponding to someor all of the third sent test media impression notifications 136.

To determine a fourth media impression notification loss rate for thesecond network 104 based on test impression notifications from thefourth test client device 118, the second test client device 118transmits fourth sent test media impression notifications 140 addressedto the data collection facility 122. In the illustrated example, thedata collection facility 122 receives fourth received test mediaimpression notifications 142 corresponding to some or all of the fourthsent media impression notifications 140. To determine a fifth mediaimpression notification loss rate for the third network 106 based ontest impression notifications from the fifth test client device 120, thefifth test client device 120 transmits fifth sent test media impressionnotifications 144 addressed to the data collection facility 122. In theillustrated example, the data collection facility 122 receives fifthreceived test media impression notifications 146 corresponding to someor all of the fifth sent test media impression notifications 144. Insome examples, the first, second, third, fourth and/or fifth test clientdevices 112, 114, 116, 118 and/or 120 all transmit the same number oftest media impression notification messages addressed to the datacollection facility 122 within a length of time. In some examples, oneor more of the first, second, third, fourth and/or fifth test clientdevices 112, 114, 116, 118 and/or 120 transmit(s) a different number oftest media impression notification messages addressed to the datacollection facility 122 than others of the test client devices 114, 116,118 and/or 120. In examples in which the first, second, third, fourthand/or fifth test client devices 112, 114, 116, 118 and/or 120 alltransmit the same number of test media impression notification messagesaddressed to the data collection facility 122 within a length of time,each of the first, second, third, fourth and/or fifth test clientdevices 112, 114, 116, 118 and/or 120 may all transmit 6000 test mediaimpression notification messages addressed to the data collectionfacility 122 within a 24 hour period. In examples in which one or moreof the first, second, third, fourth and/or fifth test client devices112, 114, 116, 118 and/or 120 transmit(s) a different number of testmedia impression notification messages addressed to the data collectionfacility 122 than others of the test client devices 114, 116, 118 and/or120, the first, second and third test client devices 112, 114, 116 mayeach transmit 6000 test media impression notification messages addressedto the data collection facility 122 within a 24 hour period while thefourth and fifth test client devices 118 and 120 may each transmit 4000test media impression notification messages addressed to the datacollection facility 122 within a 24 hour period.

In some examples, using the number of sent test media impressionnotifications 128, 132, 136, 140, 144 and the number of received testmedia impression notifications 130, 134, 138, 142, 146, the loss ratedeterminer 124 uses Equation 1 below to determine a media impressionnotification loss rate, p_(i), for the respective test client devices112, 114, 116. Referring to Equation 1, p_(i) corresponds to the mediaimpression notification loss rate for a test client device, r_(i)corresponds to a number of test media impression notifications receivedby the data collection facility 122 and s_(i) corresponds to a number oftest media impression notifications sent by the corresponding testclient devices 112, 114, 116, 118, 120.

$\begin{matrix}{p_{i} = {1 - \frac{r_{i}}{s_{i}}}} & {{Equation}1}\end{matrix}$

Table 1 below represents example media impression notification lossrates, p_(i), for the first, second, third, fourth and/or fifth testclient devices 112, 114, 116, 118 and/or 120.

TABLE 1 Client Device p_(i) First Test Device 0.0101 Second Test Device.0085 Third Test Device .0074 Fourth Test Device .1700 Fifth Test Device.0025

In examples in which one test client device is configured to be incommunication with a network, the media impression notification lossrate for that test client device, p_(i), corresponds to and/or is thesame as a media impression notification loss rate for the network,p_(e), on which the test client device is communicating. However, inexamples in which more than one test client device is configured to bein communication with a particular network, the media impressionnotification loss rate, p_(i), for the test client device may bedifferent than the media impression notification loss rate, p_(e), forthe network on which the test client devices are communicating becausedifferent client devices may have different media impressionnotification loss rates, p_(i), that are used to calculate the mediaimpression notification loss rate, p_(e), for the network. In some suchexamples, the loss rate determiner 124 uses Equation 2 below todetermine the media impression notification loss rate for a networkhaving multiple test client devices communicating thereon. Referring toEquation 2 below, i corresponds to the respective test client devices,p_(e) corresponds to the media impression notification loss rate for anetwork, e corresponds to the network for which the media impressionnotification loss rate is being determined, s_(i) corresponds to thenumber of test impression notifications sent by the test client deviceand p_(i) corresponds to the media impression notification loss rate forthe respective test client device. In some examples, the impressionnotification loss rate for the network, p_(e), is an approximation.

$\begin{matrix}{p_{e} = \frac{\sum_{i = 1}^{n}{s_{i}p_{i}}}{\sum_{i = 1}^{n}s_{i}}} & {{Equation}2}\end{matrix}$

Table 2 represents example media impression notification loss rateapproximations, p_(e), for the first network 102, the second network 104and the third network 106.

TABLE 2 Network p_(e) First network 0.0087 Second network 0.1700 Thirdnetwork 0.0025

In some examples, the loss rate determiner 124 uses the media impressionnotification loss rates, p_(e), for the respective networks 102, 104,106 to determine a network impression adjustment factor, AF_(e). In someexamples, the network impression adjustment factor, AF_(e), can beapplied to a total received impression count, I_(DMA), for thedesignated market area in combination with a market share weightingfactor, w_(e), for the corresponding network to determine an adjustedimpression count for a designated market area (DMA).

$\begin{matrix}{{AF}_{e} = \frac{1}{\left( {1 - p_{e}} \right)}} & {{Equation}3}\end{matrix}$

An example user client device 148 is also shown with the example system100 of FIG. 1 . In the illustrated example, the user client device 148enables a user to access media via the Internet. When the client device148 detects an access to such media, the user client device 148 sends areal user media impression notification 150 to the data collectionfacility 122. Examples of sending impression notifications (e.g.,beacons, impression requests, etc.) from the user client device 148 tothe data collection facility are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,370,489,titled, “methods and apparatus to determine impressions usingdistributed demographic information” and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,637,titled, “content display monitor.” Both of U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,370,489 and6,108,637 are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. The real user media impression notification 150 is used tonotify the data collection facility 122 of media access by the userclient device 148 operated by an actual person when the user clientdevice 148 accessed the media. User impression notifications are used byan AME to measure media exposures to an actual audience of users ofnumerous user client devices. The user client device 148 may be anysuitable device such as a computer, a tablet, a mobile device, acomputing device, a phone, etc. While one user client device is shown inFIG. 1 , in other examples, the system 100 includes more than one userclient device (e.g., 10, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000, 500000, etc.).

In some examples, the user impression notification 150 received by thedata collection facility 122 includes a user media impressionnotification 150 including a media ID and/or a placement ID. A media IDmay identify any type of media including, for example, advertisementsand/or content in the form of video, audio, webpage, text, images,songs, movies, user-credited/user-uploaded media, etc. A media ID may bean advertisement campaign ID, a uniform resource locator, a song title,a movie title, a news article title, a streaming station identifierand/or any other value, text string and/or information that may be usedto identify accessed media. In some examples, a media ID may be ageographic-specific media ID that identifies a corresponding mediaintended for delivery to a particular geographic area (e.g., a DMA). Forexample, a campaign ID for an advertisement intended for delivery to NewYork would be useable to identify the corresponding advertisement andthe corresponding DMA of New York. A placement ID may identify a screenor display location where an advertisement will appear on a webpage, forexample.

In some examples, to obtain demographic information of a user associatedwith the user client device 148, the data collection facility 122partners with an example database proprietor 152 (e.g., a databaseproprietor). In some examples, the database proprietor 152 providesdemographic data 154 associated with the user media impressionnotification 150 to the data collection facility 122. For example, thedata proprietor 152 may be implemented as an Internet-based serviceprovider such as a social network site (e.g., Facebook, Twitter,MySpace, etc.), a multi-service site (e.g., Yahoo!, Google, Experian,Axiom, Catalina, etc.), an online retailer site (e.g., Amazon.com,Buy.com, etc.), and/or any other web service(s) site that maintains userregistration records. Techniques disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,370,489may be used to share demographic information maintained by the databaseproprietor 152 with the data collection facility 122.

In some examples, the data collection facility 122 aggregates and/ororganizes the data received including the media ID, a placement ID, thedemographic data 154 and/or a corresponding number of recordedimpressions. In some examples, the data collection facility 122 and/orthe media impression measurement adjuster 126 can aggregate and/ororganize example media IDs, example placement IDs, example demographicdata and/or example recorded impressions into a table, such as Table 4.

TABLE 4 Media Placement Demographic Recorded ID ID Bucket Impressions558716 102 M18-24 65,742 558716 103 M18-24 12,598 558717 102 M18-243,785 558717 103  M118-24 7,277 558718 102 M18-24 12,351 558718 103M18-24 5,482

In some examples, as mentioned above, some of the user media impressionnotifications transmitted by the user client device 148 may not besuccessfully received by the data collection facility 122. In examplesdisclosed herein, to facilitate accounting for the user media impressionnotifications that were lost in transmission due to, for example,network congestion, networking hardware failures, failed network paths,and/or network driver failures, the media impression measurementadjuster 126 applies the media impression notification loss rates (e.g.,p_(e), p_(i)) determined by the media impression notification loss ratedeterminer 124 to a recorded impression count corresponding to, forexample, a designated market area. In some examples, the recordedimpression count is determined by the data collection facility 122.

In the illustrated example, a normalized market share, w_(e), is usedwhen adjusting the recorded number of impressions to account for mediaimpression notification loss rates in collected media impressions. Inthe illustrated example, the media impression measurement adjuster 126determines a normalized market share, w_(e), for the measured networks102, 104, 106 using Equation 4. In other examples, the normalized marketshare does not account for subscribers within untested markets and/orunmeasured markets (e.g., the fourth and fifth untested networks 108,110) because, for example, these networks have a number of subscribersless than the threshold number of subscribers and/or a market share lessthan the threshold percentage. In other examples, the normalized marketshare accounts for subscribers within the fourth and fifth untestednetworks 108, 110 to account for the subscribers of the untestedmarkets. In some such examples, the denominator of Equation 4 is thetotal number of subscribers in all networks including the measurednetworks and the untested networks.

$\begin{matrix}{w_{e} = \frac{{number}{of}{subscribers}{for}{measured}{network}}{\begin{matrix}{{total}{number}{of}{subscribers}{in}} \\{{measured}{networks}}\end{matrix}}} & {{Equation}4}\end{matrix}$

Table 5 represents example normalized market share weighting factors,w_(e), for the first network 102, the second network 104 and the thirdnetwork 106.

TABLE 5 Network w_(e) First network 0.6242 Second network 0.2040 Thirdnetwork 0.1718

In the illustrated example, the media impression measurement adjuster126 uses Equation 5 below to determine an adjusted quantity ofimpressions for the measured networks 102, 104, 106 includingimpressions corresponding to user impression notifications successfullyreceived by the data collection facility 122 via the respective networksand impressions corresponding to user impression notifications notsuccessfully received by the data collection facility 122 via therespective networks. Referring to Equation 5 below, I_(e) corresponds toa total received impression count for a measured network in a designatedmarket, I_(DMA) corresponds to a total received impression count for thedesignated market area (DMA), w_(e) corresponds to a normalized marketshare weighting factor for a network and AF_(e) corresponds to a networkimpression adjustment factor for a measured network.

I _(e) =I _(DMA) w _(e) AF _(e)  Equation 5

In the illustrated example, the media impression measurement adjuster126 uses Equation 6 below to determine an adjusted total impressioncount for the system 100, I_(DMA′), by summing the total receivedimpression counts, I_(e), for the measured networks 102, 104, 106. Inthis example, the adjusted total impression count for the system 100includes impressions successfully received by the data collectionfacility 122 via the networks 102, 104, 106 for a designated market areaand impressions not successfully received by the data collectionfacility 122 via the networks 102, 104, 106 for the designated marketareas.

I _(DMA′)=Σ_(e=1) ^(n) I _(e)=Σ_(e=1) ^(n) I _(DMA) *w _(e) *AF_(e)  Equation 6

In the illustrated example, the data collection facility 122 aggregatesand/or organizes data including the media ID, the placement ID, thedemographic data 154, recorded impressions and/or the adjusted and/orestimated impressions. For example, the data collection facility 122and/or the media impression measurement adjuster 126 can aggregateand/or organize example media IDs, example placement IDs, exampledemographic data, example recorded impressions and/or example estimatedand/or adjusted impressions into a table, such as table 6.

TABLE 6 Media Placement Demographic Recorded Estimated ID ID BucketImpressions Impressions 558716 102 M18-24 65,742 68,876 558716 103M18-24 12,598 13,199 558717 102 M18-24 3,785 3,965 558717 103  M118-247,277 7,624 558718 102 M18-24 12,351 12,940 558718 103 M18-24 5,4825,743

FIG. 2 illustrates an example apparatus 200 that can be implemented atthe data collection facility 122 of FIG. 1 to measure media impressionnotification loss rates and generate adjusted media impressionmeasurements based on the media impression notification loss rates. Inthis example, the apparatus 200 includes an example communicationinterface 202, an example sorter 204, an example counter 206, an exampleaggregator 208, an example database 210, the example loss ratedeterminer 124, the example media impression measurement adjuster 126,an example impression notification collector 211 and an exampleimpression adjustment factor determiner 212. The media impressionmeasurement adjuster 126 of the illustrated example includes an exampletested market share determiner 214, an example adjusted impression countdeterminer 216 and an example adjusted total impression count determiner218.

In the illustrated example, to estimate media impression notificationloss rates, p_(i), for the test client devices 112, 114, 116, 118, 120and/or the first, second and/or third networks 102, 104, 106, the senttest media impression notifications 128, 132, 136, 140, 144 are sent bythe test client devices 112, 114, 116, 118, 120 and the received testmedia impression notifications 130, 134, 138, 142, 146, 150 are receivedby the communication interface 202 of the apparatus 200. In theillustrated example, as the received test media impression notifications130, 134, 138, 142, 146, 150 are being received by the apparatus 200,the counter 204 and/or the impression notification collector 211 countthe test impression notifications and store a tally of the received testmedia impression notifications 130, 134, 138, 142, 146, 150 in thedatabase 210. In the illustrated example, to determine a total number ofsent test media impression notifications 128, 132, 136, 140, 144, thetest client devices 112, 114, 116, 118, 120 transmit valuesrepresentative of a corresponding total number of sent test mediaimpression notifications 128, 132, 136, 140, 144 to the communicationinterface 202 of the apparatus 200. The example database 210 stores thetotal number of sent test media impression notifications 128, 132, 136,140, 144.

In the illustrated example, to determine the media impressionnotification loss rates, p_(i), for the test client devices 112, 114,116, 118, 120, the loss rate determiner 124 obtains the total number ofsent test media impression notifications 128, 132, 136, 140, 144 and thetotal number of received test media impression notifications 130, 134,138, 142, 146, 150 from the database 210 and uses, for example, Equation1 above, to determine the media impression notification loss rates,p_(i), for the respective test client devices 112, 114, 116, 118, 120.In the illustrated example, the loss rate determiner 124 stores thedetermined media impression notification loss rates, p_(i), in thedatabase 210.

In the illustrated example, to determine the media impressionnotification loss rates, p_(e), for the networks 102, 104, 106, the lossrate determiner 124 obtains the determined media impression notificationloss rates, p_(i), of the corresponding test client devices 112, 114,116, 118, 120 from the database 210 and uses, for example, Equation 2above, to determine the media impression notification loss rates, p_(e),for the networks 102, 104, 106. In the illustrated example, the lossrate determiner 124 stores the determined media impression notificationloss rates, p_(e), in the database 210.

In examples disclosed herein, to determine the network impressionadjustment factors, AF_(e), for the networks 102, 104, 106, theimpression adjustment factor determiner 212 obtains the media impressionnotification loss rates, p_(e), for the corresponding networks 102, 104,106 from the database 210 and uses, for example, Equation 3 above, todetermine the network impression adjustment factors, AF_(e), for thecorresponding networks 102, 104, 106. In examples disclosed herein, thenetwork impression adjustment factors, AF_(e), can be applied to thetotal received impression count, I_(DMA), for a designated market areain combination with a market share, w_(e), for the respective network todetermine an adjusted impression count for the designated market area.

In the illustrated example, as the user media impression notifications150 are received by the apparatus 200, the sorter 204 sorts the usermedia impression notifications 150 based on, for example, the media IDand/or the placement ID. The example counter 206 and/the exampleimpression notification collector 211 count(s) the respective user mediaimpression notifications 150 and the recorded impressions correspondingthereto. In the illustrated example, a tally of the different user mediaimpression notifications 150 and/or the recorded impressions is storedin the database 210.

In the illustrated example, to obtain demographic information (e.g., ademographic bucket identifier) of a user associated with the user clientdevice 148, the data collection facility 122 uses the communicationinterface 202 to receive the demographic information 154 from theexample database proprietor 152. For example, the database proprietor152 transmits the demographic data 154 associated with the correspondinguser client device 148 to the communication interface 202 of theapparatus 200. In the illustrated example, the communication interface202 stores the demographic data 154 in the database 210.

In the illustrated example, to aggregate the demographic data 154, therecorded impression count and the corresponding user media impressionnotifications 150, the aggregator 208 obtains the user media impressionnotifications 150, the corresponding demographic data 154 and recordedimpression count from the database 210 and aggregates and/or organizesthe data into, for example, a table, such as table 4 above.

In the illustrated example, to facilitate accounting for the user mediaimpression notifications that were lost in transmission due to mediaimpression notification loss rates, the media impression measurementadjuster 126 applies the media impression notification loss rates (e.g.,p_(e), p_(i)) determined by the media impression notification loss ratedeterminer 126 to a recorded impression count corresponding to, forexample, a designated market area. In the illustrated example, thenormalized market share weighting factor, w_(e), is used whendetermining the adjusted quantity of impressions, I_(e), for themeasured networks 102, 104, 106. In the illustrated example, todetermine the normalized market share weighting factor, w_(e), for themeasured networks 102, 104, 106, the tested market share determiner 214obtains a number of subscribers for the different networks 102, 104,106, 108, 110 and uses, for example, Equation 4 above, to determine thenormalized market share weighting factor, w_(e), for the measurednetworks 102, 104, 106. In some examples, the market share determiner214 stores the normalized market share weighting factor, w_(e), for themeasured networks 102, 104, 106 in the database 210.

In the illustrated example, to determine the adjusted quantity ofimpressions, I_(e), for the measured networks 102, 104, 106, theadjusted impression count determiner 216 obtains the total receivedimpression count for the designated market area, I_(DMA), the normalizedmarket share, w_(e), for a corresponding network, and the networkimpression adjustment factor, AF_(e), for the corresponding network fromthe database 210. The adjusted impression count determiner 216 uses, forexample, Equation 5 above, to determine the adjusted quantity ofimpressions, I_(e), for the measured networks 102, 104, 106. In theillustrated example, the adjusted quantity of impressions, I_(e), forthe measured networks 102, 104, 106 includes impressions successfullyreceived by the data collection facility 122 via the respective networksand impressions not successfully received by the data collectionfacility 122 via the respective networks. In the illustrated example,the adjusted impression count determiner 216 stores the adjustedquantity of impressions, I_(e), for the measured networks 102, 104, 106in the database 210.

In the illustrated example, to determine an adjusted total impressioncount, I_(DMA′), for the system 100, the adjusted total impression countdeterminer 218 obtains the adjusted quantity of impressions, I_(e), forthe measured networks 102, 104, 106 from the database 210. The adjustedtotal impression count determiner 218 uses, for example, Equation 6above, to determine the adjusted total impression count, I_(DMA′), forthe system 100. In the illustrated example, the adjusted totalimpression count determiner 218 stores the adjusted total impressioncount, I_(DMA′), for the system 100 in the database 210.

In the illustrated example, to aggregate the demographic data 154, theuser media impression notifications 150, the recorded impression countand the adjusted impression count for the different designate marketareas, the aggregator 208 obtains the user media impressionnotifications 150, the corresponding demographic data 154 and therecorded and adjusted impression count from the database 210 andaggregates and/or organizes the data into, for example, a table such astable 6.

While an example manner of implementing the data collection facility ofFIG. 1 is illustrated in FIG. 2 , one or more of the elements, processesand/or devices illustrated in FIG. 2 may be combined, divided,re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way.Further, the example communication interface 202, the example sorter204, the example counter 206, the example aggregator 208, the exampledatabase 210, the example impression notification collector 211, theexample loss rate determiner 124, the example impression adjustmentfactor determiner 212, the example media impression measurement adjuster1226, the example tested market share determiner 214, the exampleadjusted impression count determiner 216, the example adjusted totalimpression count determiner 218, the example user client device(s) 148,the example database proprietor 152 and/or, more generally, the exampleapparatus 200 of FIG. 2 may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware.Thus, for example, any of the example communication interface 202, theexample sorter 204, the example counter 206, the example aggregator 208,the example database 210, the example impression notification collector211, the example loss rate determiner 124, the example impressionadjustment factor determiner 212, the example media impressionmeasurement adjuster 1226, the example tested market share determiner214, the example adjusted impression count determiner 216, the exampleadjusted total impression count determiner 218, the example user clientdevice(s) 148, the example database proprietor 152 and/or, moregenerally, the example apparatus 200 of FIG. 2 could be implemented byone or more circuit(s), programmable processor(s), application specificintegrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s))and/or field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)), etc. When readingany of the apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purelysoftware and/or firmware implementation, at least one of the examplecommunication interface 202, the example sorter 204, the example counter206, the example aggregator 208, the example database 210, the exampleimpression notification collector 211, the example loss rate determiner124, the example impression adjustment factor determiner 212, theexample media impression measurement adjuster 1226, the example testedmarket share determiner 214, the example adjusted impression countdeterminer 216, the example adjusted total impression count determiner218, the example user client device(s) 148, the example databaseproprietor 152 and/or, more generally, the apparatus 200 of FIG. 2 arehereby expressly defined to include a tangible computer readable storagedevice or storage disc such as a memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, etc. storingthe software and/or firmware. Further still, the example data collectiondevice 122 of FIG. 1 may include one or more elements, processes and/ordevices in addition to, or instead of, those illustrated in FIG. 2 ,and/or may include more than one of any or all of the illustratedelements, processes and devices.

A flowchart representative of example machine readable instructions forimplementing the example system 100 of FIG. 1 and/or the exampleapparatus 200 of FIG. 2 is shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. In this example,the machine readable instructions comprise a program for execution by aprocessor such as the processor 412 shown in the example processorplatform 400 discussed below in connection with FIG. 4 . The program maybe embodied in software stored on a tangible computer readable storagemedium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a digitalversatile disk (DVD), a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associated with theprocessor 412, but the entire program and/or parts thereof couldalternatively be executed by a device other than the processor 412and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although theexample program is described with reference to the flowchart illustratedin FIGS. 3A and 3B, many other methods of implementing the example theexample system 100 of FIG. 1 and/or the example apparatus 200 of FIG. 2may alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of theblocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may bechanged, eliminated, or combined.

As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 3A and 3B may beimplemented using coded instructions (e.g., computer and/or machinereadable instructions) stored on a tangible computer readable storagemedium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a read-only memory(ROM), a compact disk (CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a cache, arandom-access memory (RAM) and/or any other storage device or storagedisk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extendedtime periods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarilybuffering, and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, theterm tangible computer readable storage medium is expressly defined toinclude any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage diskand to exclude propagating signals. As used herein, “tangible computerreadable storage medium” and “tangible machine readable storage medium”are used interchangeably. Additionally or alternatively, the exampleprocesses of FIGS. 3A and 3B may be implemented using coded instructions(e.g., computer and/or machine readable instructions) stored on anon-transitory computer and/or machine readable medium such as a harddisk drive, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a compact disk, adigital versatile disk, a cache, a random-access memory and/or any otherstorage device or storage disk in which information is stored for anyduration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, for briefinstances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of theinformation). As used herein, the term non-transitory computer readablemedium is expressly defined to include any type of computer readabledevice or disc and to exclude propagating signals. As used herein, whenthe phrase “at least” is used as the transition term in a preamble of aclaim, it is open-ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” isopen ended.

The method of FIGS. 3A and 3B begins by selecting a network to analyze(block 302). For example, the impression notification selector 211 (FIG.2 ) may select one of the first network 102, the second network 104 orthe third network 106 of FIG. 1 . In some examples, the apparatus (FIG.2 ) selects the first network 102 to analyze. The method selects a testclient device in communication with the selected network to analyze(block 304). For example, the impression notification collector 211(FIG. 2 ) may select one of the first, second, third, fourth and/orfifth test client devices 112, 114, 116, 118, 120 in communication withone of the selected networks 102, 104, 106. For example, if the datacollection facility 122 selects the first network 102 to analyze atblock 302, the data collection facility 122 may select at block 304 thefirst test client device 112 to analyze.

The method obtains the test impression notification sent count for theselected test client device (block 306). For example, the loss ratedeterminer 124 obtains the quantity of the sent test media impressionnotifications 128, 132, 136, 140, 144 (FIG. 1 ) from the database 210(FIG. 2 ). For example, if the first test client device 112 is selectedat block 304, the loss rate determiner 124 may obtain the number of thefirst sent test media impression notifications 128 from the database210.

The method obtains the test impression notification received count forthe selected test client device (block 308). For example, the loss ratedeterminer 124 obtains the quantity of received test impressionnotifications 130, 134, 138, 142, 146 from the database 210 (FIG. 2 )corresponding to the test client device selected at block 304. Forexample, if the first test client device 112 is the selected test clientdevice, the loss rate determiner 124 may obtain the number of the firstreceived test media impression notifications 130 from the database 210.

The method determines the media impression notification loss rate forthe selected test client device based on the test impressionnotification sent count and the test impression notification receivedcount (block 310). For example, the loss rate determiner 124 determinesthe media impression notification loss rate by using the total number ofsent test media impression notifications 128, 132, 136, 140, 144 and thetotal number of received test media impression notifications 130, 134,138, 142, 146 with Equation 1 above. At block 312, the method determinesif there is another test client device in communication with theselected network to analyze. For example, if the first network 102 andthe first test client device 112 are initially selected, the process maydetermine to analyze the second test client device 114. If there isanother test client device to analyze, control returns to block 304.

If there are no additional test client devices in communication with theselected network to analyze, the method determines the media impressionnotification loss rate for the selected network based, p_(e) (block314). For example, the loss rate determiner 124 determines the mediaimpression notification loss rate for the selected network, p_(e), basedon the determined media impression notification loss rates for theclient device(s), p_(i), the number of test impression notificationssent by the test client device s_(i) and Equation 2 above. At block 316,the apparatus 200 determines if there is another network to analyze. Forexample, if the first network 102 is initially selected to analyze, theprocess may select the second network 104 to analyze.

The method selects a designated market area (block 318) (FIG. 3B). Forexample, the impression adjustment factor determiner 212 selects adesignated market area corresponding to a geographic region, a city, astate, an area of a metropolitan area, a media ID within a designatedmarket area, a geographic-specific media ID, a placement ID within adesignated market area and/or any other suitable geographic area, etc.The method selects a network of the analyzed networks (block 320). Forexample, the impression adjustment factor determiner 212 selects one ofthe first network 102, the second network 104 and/or the third network106.

The method determines the network impression adjustment factor (block322). For example, the impression adjustment factor determiner 212obtains the media impression notification loss rates, p_(e), for thenetwork 102, 104, 106 selected at block 320 from the database 210. Theexample impression adjustment factor determiner 212 determines thenetwork impression adjustment factor, AF_(e), based on the mediaimpression notification loss rates, p_(e), and Equation 3 above.

The method determines the market share weighting factor for the networkselected at block 320 (block 324). For example, the tested market sharedeterminer 214 obtains a number of subscribers for the analyzed networks102, 104, 106, 108, 110 and determines the market share weightingfactor, the total number of subscribers in the measured networks and/orthe total number of subscribers in all networks including the measurednetworks and the untested networks and Equation 4 above. The methodobtains a total received impression count for the selected designatedmarket area (block 326). For example, the counter 206 and/or theimpression notification collector 211 counts the respective user mediaimpression notifications 150 corresponding to the user client device 148and the recorded impressions corresponding thereto.

The method determines an adjusted impression count for the selecteddesignated market area (block 328). For example, the adjusted impressioncount determiner 216 (FIG. 2 ) applies the corresponding market shareand the corresponding network adjustment factor of the designated marketarea to the total received user media impression count. In theillustrated example, the adjusted impression count determiner 216obtains the total received impression user media count for thedesignated market area, I_(DMA), the normalized market share weightingfactor, w_(e), for a corresponding network, and the network impressionadjustment factor, AF_(e), for the measured network, from the database210 for use with Equation 5 above to determine the network adjustmentfactor of the designated market area. At block 330, the methoddetermines if there is another network to analyze. For example, if thefirst network 102 is initially selected to analyze, the process mayselect the second network 104 at block 330 to analyze.

The adjusted total impression count is determined for the selecteddesignated market area (block 332). For example, the adjusted totalimpression count determiner 218 obtains the adjusted quantity ofimpressions, I_(e), for the measured networks 102, 104, 106 from thedatabase 210 and Equation 6 above. At block 334, the method determinesif there is another designated market area to analyze. For example, if afirst designated market area is initially selected to analyze, theapparatus 200 may select a second designated market area to analyze. Atblock 334, the method stores the adjusted quantity of impressions inassociation with a media identifier. For example, the database 210stores the weighted adjusted quantity of the user-accessed mediaimpression notifications in association with a media identifier tocredit corresponding media with a quantity of media accessescorresponding to the weighted adjusted quantity of the user-accessedmedia impression notifications.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1000 capableof executing the instructions of FIGS. 3A and 3B to implement the system100 of FIG. 1 and/or the data collection facility 122 of FIG. 2 . Theprocessor platform 400 can be, for example, a server, a personalcomputer.

In some examples, the processor 412 implements one or more of theexample loss rate determiner 124, the example user client device(s) 148,the example database proprietor 152, the example communication interface202, the example sorter 204, the example counter 206, the exampleaggregator 208, the example database 210, the example impressionnotification collector 211, the example impression adjustment factordeterminer 212, the example tested market share determiner 214, theexample adjusted impression count determiner 216, the example adjustedtotal impression count determiner 218, the example media impressionmeasurement adjuster 226,

The processor platform 400 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 412. The processor 412 of the illustrated example is hardware.For example, the processor 412 can be implemented by one or moreintegrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllers fromany desired family or manufacturer.

In some examples, the processor 412 implements one or more of exampleloss rate determiner-124, the example communication interface 202, theexample sorter 204, the example counter 206, the example aggregator 208,the example impression notification collector 211, the exampleimpression adjustment factor determiner 212, the example tested marketshare determiner 214, the example adjusted impression count determiner216, the example adjusted total impression count determiner 218 and/orthe example media impression measurement adjuster 226.

The processor 412 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 413(e.g., a cache). The processor 412 of the illustrated example is incommunication with a main memory including a volatile memory 414 and anon-volatile memory 416 via a bus 418. The volatile memory 414 may beimplemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), DynamicRandom Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM)and/or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatilememory 416 may be implemented by flash memory and/or any other desiredtype of memory device. Access to the main memory 414, 416 is controlledby a memory controller.

The processor platform 400 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 420. The interface circuit 420 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, auniversal serial bus (USB), and/or a PCI express interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 422 are connectedto the interface circuit 420. The input device(s) 422 permit a user toenter data and commands into the processor 412. The input device(s) canbe implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, a microphone, a camera(still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, atrack-pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voice recognition system.

One or more output devices 424 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 420 of the illustrated example. The output devices 424 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay, a cathode ray tube display (CRT), a touchscreen, a tactileoutput device, a light emitting diode (LED), a printer and/or speakers).The interface circuit 420 of the illustrated example, thus, typicallyincludes a graphics driver card.

The interface circuit 420 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data withexternal machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network1026 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), atelephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

The processor platform 400 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 428 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 428 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAIDsystems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

Coded instructions 432 to implement the machine readable instruction ofFIGS. 3A and 3B may be stored in the mass storage device 428, in thevolatile memory 414, in the non-volatile memory 1016, and/or on aremovable tangible computer readable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the above disclosedmethods, apparatus and articles of manufacture overcome errors innetwork communications that result in loss of transmitted informationwithout burdening network devices or client devices with needing toretransmit such lost information and without burdening network devicesor client devices to perform a bandwidth-demanding andprocessor-demanding acknowledgement of successful transmission exchangewith a data collection server. Thus, the examples disclosed hereinenable media impression notification loss rates to be determined in amanner that is noninvasive and/or less invasive to client devices and/ornetwork devices. When counting media impressions notificationsrepresentative of media accessed at client devices, media impressioncollection and measurement processes rely on successful networkcommunications to successfully receive such media impressionnotifications at a data collection server from client devices.Successful network communications increases the accuracy of mediaimpression measures that are based on impression reporting from clientdevices. However, when network communications fail, media impressionnotifications transmitted by client devices are less likely to besuccessfully received by a data collection server. Such failures cansignificantly decrease the accuracies of media impression measures.

Some prior techniques to overcome failed network communications involveburdening network devices and client devices with performingacknowledgement exchanges between source and destination devices and/orretransmitting information to increase the likelihood that suchinformation will be successfully received at an intended destinationdevice (e.g., a data collection server). However, such prior techniquesplace an increased processing demand on source and/or destinationdevices to process such acknowledgment exchanges and/or informationretransmissions and/or increase the load time of a page, degrading theuser's experience. In addition, such acknowledgment exchanges and/orinformation retransmissions also require bandwidth resources ofnetworks, which decrease the amount of bandwidth available to othercommunications.

Examples disclosed herein can be advantageously used to maintainrelatively highly accurate media impression measures based on mediaimpression notifications from client devices without needing to burdenclient devices, network devices and/or other network resources to useadditional processing resources and bandwidth resources to performacknowledgement exchanges and/or retransmit information. That is,examples disclosed herein determine the amount of information that islikely to be lost in transmission through a network, determineadjustment factors based on such information transmission loss, andapply those adjustment factors to quantities of successfully receivedmedia impression notifications to determine more accurate mediaimpression notification counts that are representative of mediaimpression notifications that were successfully received at a datacollection server from client devices and representative of mediaimpression notifications that failed to be received at the datacollection server from client devices.

An example method includes determining a media impression notificationloss rate for a network based on a test impression notification receiptcount and a test impression notification transmitted count, the testimpression notification receipt count representing a first quantity oftest impression notifications successfully received at a data collectionfacility via the network; determining a network impression adjustmentfactor based on the media impression notification loss rate and based ona market share weighting factor of the network; and determining anadjusted impression count by applying the network impression adjustmentfactor to a total received impression count, the total receivedimpression count indicative of a second quantity of impressions reportedby a plurality of devices and successfully received at the datacollection facility for a market including the network, the adjustedimpression count representative of a quantity of media accesses at theplurality of the devices, and the adjusted impression countrepresentative of the second quantity of impression notificationsuccessfully received at the data collection facility via the networkand a third quantity of impression notifications not successfullyreceived at the data collection facility via the network.

In some examples, the media notification impression loss rate is a firstmedia impression notification loss rate, the network is a first network,the test impression notification receipt count is a first testimpression notification receipt count, the test impression notificationtransmitted count is a first test impression notification transmittedcount, and further including: determining a second media impressionnotification loss rate for a second network based on a second testimpression notification receipt count and a second test impressionnotification transmitted count, the second test impression notificationreceipt count representing a fourth quantity of impressions successfullyreceived at the data collection facility via the second network;determining a second network impression adjustment factor based on thesecond media impression notification loss rate and based on a secondmarket share weighting factor of the second network; and determining asecond adjusted impression count by applying the second networkimpression adjustment factor to the total received impression count, thetotal received impression count indicative of the second quantity ofimpressions reported by the plurality of devices and successfullyreceived at the data collection facility for the market of networksserving a geographic region, the market including the second network,the second adjusted impression count representative of a quantity ofexposures to media at the plurality of the devices via the secondnetwork, and the adjusted impression count including the second quantityof impressions successfully received at the data collection facility viathe second network and a fifth quantity of impressions not successfullyreceived at the data collection facility via the second network.

In some examples, the first network and the second network serve thesame geographic region. In some examples, the method includes summingthe first adjusted impression count and the second adjusted impressioncount to determine a third adjusted impression count, the third adjustedimpression count representative of a quantity of exposures to media atthe plurality of the devices via the first and second networks, thefirst and second networks representing a substantial portion of themarket of networks serving a geographic region. In some examples, themethod includes transmitting a fourth quantity of test impressionnotifications to a data collection facility, the fourth quantityrepresenting the test impression notification transmitted count. In someexamples the method includes receiving the first quantity of testimpression notifications at the data collection facility, the firstquantity representing the test impression notification transmittedcount. In some examples, a difference between the first quantity and thefourth quantity is representative of the media impression lossnotification rate for the network.

In some examples, the market share weighting factor of the networkrepresents a percentage of the market accounted for by the network. Insome examples, the determining of the media impression loss rateincludes determining a first media impression loss rate for a first testclient device in communication with the network and determining a secondmedia impression loss rate for a second test client device incommunication with the network, the media impression loss rate beingdetermined based on the first media impression loss rate and the secondmedia impression loss rate.

An example method to determine media impression measures, includesdetermining a first network media impression adjustment factor based ona quantity of lost test media impression notifications for a firstnetwork in a geographic region; determining an adjusted quantity offirst network user-accessed media impression notifications for the firstnetwork by applying the first network media impression adjustment factorto a quantity of successfully received user-accessed media impressionnotifications to generate a product and weighting the product based on amarket share of first subscribers corresponding to the first network inthe geographic region, the quantity of successfully receiveduser-accessed media impression notifications including a quantity ofsuccessfully received user-accessed media impression notificationsreceived via the first network; and storing the weighted adjustedquantity of the user-accessed media impression notifications inassociation with a media identifier to credit corresponding media with aquantity of media accesses corresponding to the weighted adjustedquantity of the user-accessed media impression notifications.

In some examples, the quantity of the lost test media impressionnotifications for the first network is due to communication failures inthe first network. In some examples, the adjusted quantity of the firstnetwork user-accessed media impression notifications includes a totalmedia impression count corresponding to the quantity of the successfullyreceived user-accessed media impression notifications for the firstnetwork and a quantity of lost user-accessed media impressionnotifications for the first network. In some examples, the successfullyreceived user-accessed media impression notifications for the firstnetwork correspond to media impression notifications successfullyreceived at a data collection facility when sent via the first networkby first subscriber client devices of the first network and addressed tothe data collection facility, the lost user-accessed media impressionnotifications not successfully received at the data collection facilitywhen sent via the first network by at least some of the first subscriberclient devices of the first network or second subscriber client devicesof the first network and addressed to the data collection facility.

In some examples, the lost test media impression notifications are sentvia the first network automatically by a test client device that is notoperated by a user. In some examples, the market share is a first marketshare, further includes determining a second network media impressionadjustment factor based on a quantity of lost test media impressionnotifications for a second network in the geographic region; anddetermining an adjusted quantity of second network user-accessed mediaimpression notifications for the second network by applying the secondmedia impression adjustment factor to the quantity of successfullyreceived user-accessed media impression notifications to generate aproduct and weighting the product based on a second market share ofsecond subscribers corresponding to the second network in the geographicregion.

In some examples, the method also includes summing the adjusted quantityof first network user-accessed media impression notifications for thefirst network and the adjusted quantity of second network user-accessedmedia impression notifications for the second network to determine athird adjusted quantity of user-accessed media impression notifications,the first and second markets representing a substantial portion of amarket of networks serving a geographic region. In some examples, themarket share of first subscribers corresponding to the first network inthe geographic region is relative to second subscribers of othernetworks in the geographic region.

In some examples, the determining of the first network media impressionadjustment factor is based on a first media impression loss rate for afirst test client device in communication with the first network and asecond media impression loss rate for a second test client device incommunication with the first network, the media impression loss ratebeing determined based on the first media impression loss rate and thesecond media impression loss rate.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe claims of this patent.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: at least one memory;programmable circuitry; and instructions to cause the programmablecircuitry to: determine a first adjustment factor based on atransmission loss characteristic of a first network, the first networkcorresponding to a geographic region, determine a weighted adjustedquantity of user-accessed media impression notifications for the firstnetwork by: (a) applying the first adjustment factor to a first quantityof media impression notifications to generate a product and (b)weighting the product based on a market share of first subscriberscorresponding to the first network in the geographic region, theweighted adjusted quantity of the user-accessed media impressionnotifications to correct an inaccuracy in the first quantity of mediaimpression notifications, the inaccuracy resulting from the transmissionloss characteristic of the first network, and store the weightedadjusted quantity of the user-accessed media impression notifications inassociation with a media identifier to credit corresponding media with aquantity of media accesses to overcome the transmission losscharacteristic of the first network.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinthe programmable circuitry is to determine a difference between firstand second quantities of test impression notifications for the firstnetwork based on at least a networking hardware failure.
 3. The systemof claim 1, wherein the programmable circuitry is to determine adifference between first and second quantities of test impressionnotifications for the first network based on at least networkcongestion.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the programmable circuitryis to determine the weighted adjusted quantity of the user-accessedmedia impression notifications based on a quantity of lost user-accessedmedia impression notifications for the first network and the firstquantity of media impression notifications.
 5. The system of claim 1,wherein the programmable circuitry is to obtain demographic informationassociated with the first quantity of media impression notificationsfrom a database proprietor.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein theprogrammable circuitry is to send lost test impression notifications viathe first network automatically by a test client device without the testclient device being operated by a user.
 7. The system of claim 1,wherein the market share is a first market share, and the programmablecircuitry is to: determine a second network media impression adjustmentfactor based on a transmission loss characteristic of a second network;and determine a second weighted adjusted quantity of user-accessed mediaimpression notifications for the second network by applying the secondnetwork media impression adjustment factor to a quantity of successfullyreceived user-accessed media impression notifications to generate asecond product and weighting the second product based on a second marketshare of second subscribers corresponding to the second network in thegeographic region.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the programmablecircuitry is to sum the weighted adjusted quantity of user-accessedmedia impression notifications for the first network and the secondweighted adjusted quantity of user-accessed media impressionnotifications for the second network to determine a third adjustedquantity of user-accessed media impression notifications, the thirdadjusted quantity of user-accessed media impression notificationscorresponding to a substantial portion of a market of networks servinganother geographic region.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein theprogrammable circuitry is to determine the market share of the firstsubscribers corresponding to the first network in the geographic regionrelative to second subscribers of other networks in the geographicregion.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the programmable circuitry isto determine the first network media impression adjustment factor basedon a first media impression loss rate for a test client device incommunication with the first network and a second media impression lossrate for a second test client device in communication with the firstnetwork.
 11. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium comprisinginstructions that, when executed, cause programmable circuitry to atleast: determine a first adjustment factor based on a transmission losscharacteristic of a first network, the first network corresponding to ageographic region; determine a weighted adjusted quantity ofuser-accessed media impression notifications for the first network by(a) applying the first adjustment factor to a first quantity of mediaimpression notifications to generate a product and (b) weighting theproduct based on a market share of first subscribers corresponding tothe first network in the geographic region, the weighted adjustedquantity of the user-accessed media impression notifications to correctan inaccuracy in the first quantity of media impression notifications,the inaccuracy resulting from the transmission loss characteristic ofthe first network; and store the weighted adjusted quantity of theuser-accessed media impression notifications in association with a mediaidentifier to credit corresponding media with a quantity of mediaaccesses to overcome the transmission loss characteristic of the firstnetwork.
 12. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim11, wherein the instructions cause the programmable circuitry todetermine a difference between first and second quantities of testimpression notifications for the first network based on at least anetworking hardware failure.
 13. The non-transitory machine readablestorage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause theprogrammable circuitry to determine a difference between first andsecond quantities of test impression notifications for the first networkbased on at least network congestion.
 14. The non-transitory machinereadable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause theprogrammable circuitry to determine the weighted adjusted quantity ofthe user-accessed media impression notifications based on a quantity oflost user-accessed media impression notifications for the first networkand the first quantity of media impression notifications.
 15. Thenon-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein theinstructions cause the programmable circuitry to obtain demographicinformation associated with the first quantity of media impressionnotifications from a database proprietor.
 16. The non-transitory machinereadable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause theprogrammable circuitry to send lost test impression notifications viathe first network automatically by a test client device without the testclient device being operated by a user.
 17. The non-transitory machinereadable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the market share is a firstmarket share, and the instructions cause the programmable circuitry to:determine a second network media impression adjustment factor based on atransmission loss characteristic of a second network; and determine asecond weighted adjusted quantity of user-accessed media impressionnotifications for the second network by applying the second networkmedia impression adjustment factor to a quantity of successfullyreceived user-accessed media impression notifications to generate asecond product and weighting the second product based on a second marketshare of second subscribers corresponding to the second network in thegeographic region.
 18. The non-transitory machine readable storagemedium of claim 17, wherein the programmable circuitry is to execute theinstructions to sum the weighted adjusted quantity of user-accessedmedia impression notifications for the first network and the secondweighted adjusted quantity of user-accessed media impressionnotifications for the second network to determine a third adjustedquantity of user-accessed media impression notifications, the thirdadjusted quantity of user-accessed media impression notificationscorresponding to a substantial portion of a market of networks serving ageographic region.
 19. The non-transitory machine readable storagemedium of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the programmablecircuitry to determine the market share of the first subscriberscorresponding to the first network in the geographic region relative tosecond subscribers of other networks in the geographic region.
 20. Thenon-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein theinstructions cause the programmable circuitry to determine the firstnetwork media impression adjustment factor based on a first mediaimpression loss rate for a test client device in communication with thefirst network and a second media impression loss rate for a second testclient device in communication with the first network.
 21. A methodcomprising: determining, by executing an instruction with processorcircuitry, a first adjustment factor based on a transmission losscharacteristic of a first network corresponding to a geographic region;determining, by executing an instruction with the processor circuitry, aweighted adjusted quantity of user-accessed media impressionnotifications for the first network by (a) applying the first adjustmentfactor to a first quantity of media impression notifications to generatea product and (b) weighting the product based on a market share of firstsubscribers corresponding to the first network in the geographic region,the weighted adjusted quantity of the user-accessed media impressionnotifications to correct an inaccuracy in the first quantity of mediaimpression notifications, the inaccuracy resulting from the transmissionloss characteristic of the first network; and causing, by executing aninstruction with the processor circuitry, storing of the weightedadjusted quantity of the user-accessed media impression notifications inassociation with a media identifier to credit corresponding media with aquantity of media accesses to overcome the transmission losscharacteristic of the first network.
 22. The method of claim 21, furtherincluding determining, by executing an instruction with the processorcircuitry, a difference between first and second quantities of testimpression notifications for the first network based on at least anetworking hardware failure.
 23. The method of claim 21, furtherincluding determining, by executing an instruction with the processorcircuitry, a difference between first and second quantities of testimpression notifications for the first network based on at least networkcongestion.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein the weighted adjustedquantity of the user-accessed media impression notifications isdetermined based on a quantity of lost user-accessed media impressionnotifications for the first network and the first quantity of mediaimpression notifications.
 25. The method of claim 21, further includingdetermining, by executing an instruction with the processor circuitry,demographic information associated with the first quantity of mediaimpression notifications from a database proprietor.
 26. The method ofclaim 21, further including sending lost test impression notificationsvia the first network automatically by a test client device without thetest client device being operated by a user.
 27. The method of claim 21,wherein the market share is a first market share, and wherein the methodfurther includes: determining, by executing an instruction with theprocessor circuitry, a second network media impression adjustment factorbased on a transmission loss characteristic of a second network; anddetermining, by executing an instruction with the processor circuitry, asecond weighted adjusted quantity of user-accessed media impressionnotifications for the second network by applying the second networkmedia impression adjustment factor to a quantity of successfullyreceived user-accessed media impression notifications to generate asecond product and weighting the second product based on a second marketshare of second subscribers corresponding to the second network in thegeographic region.
 28. The method of claim 27, further includingsumming, by executing an instruction with the processor circuitry, theweighted adjusted quantity of user-accessed media impressionnotifications for the first network and the second weighted adjustedquantity of user-accessed media impression notifications for the secondnetwork to determine a third adjusted quantity of user-accessed mediaimpression notifications, the third adjusted quantity of user-accessedmedia impression notifications corresponding to a substantial portion ofa market of networks serving a geographic region.
 29. The method ofclaim 21, further including determining, by executing an instructionwith the processor circuitry, the market share of the first subscriberscorresponding to the first network in the geographic region relative tosecond subscribers of other networks in the geographic region.
 30. Themethod of claim 21, wherein the first network media impressionadjustment factor is determined based on a first media impression lossrate for a test client device in communication with the first networkand a second media impression loss rate for a second test client devicein communication with the first network.
 31. An apparatus comprising:means for determining a transmission loss characteristic of a firstnetwork; means for collecting media impression notifications; means fordetermining a first network media impression adjustment factor for thefirst network; means for determining a weighted adjusted quantity ofuser-accessed media impression notifications for the first network; andmeans for storing the weighted adjusted quantity to overcome thetransmission loss characteristic of the first network.